In the lead up to Ryan’s death, James had been watching conspiracy-type videos on YouTube and contacted police to report she was being followed. She stayed the night at the house of Ryan’s father the night he died and told investigators she went into his room and strangled him, according to court documents.

“She stated she prayed, thought about it, cried and then put her hands around his throat so he couldn’t breathe any longer,” a deputy wrote in court documents. Ryan was a student at Green Mountain Elementary School.

If prosecutors or the judge on the case agrees with public defender Caleb Cunningham’s request, James would not be criminally prosecuted and would be committed to a lock-down facility at Western State Hospital for an indeterminate amount of time. She could eventually reintegrate into society depending on her treatment progress, as determined by Western State experts, who could re-commit her.

Cunningham had hired an expert who found James was legally insane at the time of Ryan’s death. He said the prosecutor’s expert, a psychologist at Western State Hospital, reached the same conclusion:

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Amber Lynn James is escorted to her arraignment on a charge of second degree murder on Wednesday in Kitsap County Superior Court. James is accused of killing her 9-year-old son.(Photo: Larry Steagall / Kitsap Sun)

James had been experiencing delusions and hallucinations for several days, which culminated in “markedly intense symptoms of psychosis on the day of the alleged events.” The Western State Hospital report found that James “was unable to tell right from wrong with respect to the acts charged as a result of active symptoms of a mental illness.”

“She knew what she was doing, but she thought doing it was the right thing,” Cunningham said.

Chief Criminal Prosecutor Chad Enright confirmed the two evaluations agree that James was unable to tell the difference between right and wrong at the time of Ryan’s death, one way a person can be found “not guilty by reason of insanity,” but said prosecutors have not decided on how to respond to Cunningham’s request.

“We are reviewing the evaluations to make sure they meet all the legal standards and are considering the options,” Enright said. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for Friday.

James had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder during previous episodes of mental distress. Cunningham said James has been medicated since her arrest and is grappling with the reality of what happened to her son.

“It’s as if she woke from a nightmare only to learn that the events she remembers are real,” Cunningham said, adding: “Her intense delusional state is the only explanation for her actions in this case.”

In February James was found competent to stand trial after waiting months for an evaluation. Competency, different from an "insanity defense," means that a defendant understands the charges against them and can assist their attorney.